Lubricated journal box



Jan. 22, 1935.v J. J. HENNESSY LUBRICATED JOURNAL BOX Original Filed Dec. v14., 1931 Wren/or 7 Jane: 1/ fiEWIM/{y Q/forney Patented Jan. 22, 1935 7 1 988 735 UNITED STAT Es PATENT OFFICE Application December 14, 1931,: Serial No. 580,765

Renewed June 15, 1934'" 4 Claims; (Cl. 308 +80) This invention relates to railway journal lubox'and journal, portions being sectioned for bricators and particularly to means for recoverclearer illustration. ingoil supplied to the journal box hub face and Figure 2 is an outside'view of the'hub face of that which escapes beyond the ends of the the box. V bearing. F gure 3 is a view correspondingwith Figure 5 Because of the great weight borne by railway 1 but showing. a modification. journals, and particularly locomotive driver Figure 4 is a view of the hub face of the modiiour-nals, adequate lubrication of these parts is fled form. 1 essential and, particularly where oil is period- Figure 5 is a vertical. transverse section ically injected; from an extraneous source, an through another form of driving box and wheel 10 excess must be supplied" to the parts in order hub. to insure-a; reasonable margin of safety. Ac- The invention is illustrated as appliedto a cordingly, with the use of ordinary journal boxes, locomotive driving box 1 (Figures 1 and2) supmuch oil escapes from the bearings and is portedon journal 2 through the usual bearing 3; wasted. brass-3. Spacer 4 atthe bottom ofqthe'box In an effort to remedy this situation, various mounts a sub-cellar 5 upon coiled springs 6. pumping devices have been developed for sup- Oil distributing packing, shown as comprising plying limited quantities of lubricant toeach a series offelt strips 7;. is in .turn c'arriedby the journahand the boxes have been equipped with sub-cellar and maintained snugly in engagement 20, various forms of pressure valves and wipers for With the journal by springs 3. collecting surplus oil and returning it to the Oil is supplied to the journal through a pasbox; cellar or reservoir. A lubricating device sage 9 in the top of the driving box andicontinof the above type is disclosed in my (so-pending uingzthrough the bearing brass '9, which passage application, Serial No; 403,027, filed October 28', communicates with a longitudinal slot 10' and 5 1929, which. application also'illustrates, but does angularly'disposed slots 11 in the under surface not claim specifically, means for recapturing luof the brass; This box is particul'arly 'adapted bricant which escapes from the bearing on to the for use with an oil distributing: system, such, box hubface. The present application comforexample, as is disclosed in my-co-pending prises-a continuation of the disclosure, in part, application, Serial No. 581,026 mentionedabove. go of said co-pending: application. However, each box may. be equipped with an in- However, the provision of an individual me dividua pu p or upp reservoir, if d r d. chanical' lubricator for each box considerably Excess lubricant escaping to the hub-face of increasesthecost' of the locomotive. A'simpler the box and wheel hub'serves to lubricate these and less expensive lubricating device whichalsc parts. A portion oftheescaping oil will be supplies oil in substantially uniform quantities transferred to the Wheel hub and centrifugally 35 to-the box hub facecomprises thesubject matthrown off by'a deflector ring 11 secured to the e o y (IO-pending pp fi' serial hub=-12 and inclined outwardly from the center filed December 1931- The device thereof at an angle-of approximately forty five therein described. is "-mostadvantageously used degrees;- r u fa 13 is provided with 40 P tm with e t for recovering Surplus a circular groove 14 and strip15secured'therew would olgherwlse be thrown off from to 'andext'endin'g outwardly a sufficient distance t g g gf gz g g fhgfi g i figfififi to slightly overlap deflector ring 11 when the the provision of adequate m 8 ans for preventing wheel hub and box are at their points of greatest loss of lubricant accumulating on the hub face separatlon of the journal box The collector ring is disposed in such a man- Another object is to provide means for her as to direct the deflected lubricant downplying lubricant directly to the box hub face. W f arounfi the same and Into an j y Another object is to provide improved means inclined portion at the bottom. Strip 15 is for recapturing lubricant which escapes longiinterrupted at the bOt' Om and the lower portion 50 tudinally of the journal beyond the journal box. 0f the ring is formed by an arqllaliely d pressed These objects and others are attained by the portion 16 0f the Spacer 4 W h xtends outstructure illustrated in the accompanying draw wardly beyond the box hub face. A hole 1'? in ing, in whichportion 16 permits the collected oil to drain into Figure 1 is a side view of a locomotive driving an inclined trough 18 beneath the spacer, from 55 whence the oil may be recovered through a draw-off pipe 19.

Oil escaping inwardly along the journal is recovered by means of a series of wiper plates 30 secured to a pair of wire rings 31 within a cup-shaped cover forming a restricted enclosure surrounding the journal. Regular spacing of the wipers is maintained by a wire 32 wound spirally around wires 31. Lubricant collected by the wipers drips into the cover 45 or directly onto the floor of the box and passes into trough 18 through an opening 33. Wings 34 and splash plates 35 on the sub-cellar 5 and inside of the,

box, respectively, also assist in preventing loss 7 a and a journal box therefor, said wheel and box of lubricant.

In Figure 3 and 4, the box and cellar dimensions prevent the use of afull circle collector ring. Strip 20 secured in circular groove 21 in the box face ends at points A on each side,and angle plates 22, secured to the ends of strip 20 within groove 21, halt the flow of oil downwardly in the groove and divert the same through a hole 23 in the boxface and into short pipes 24 which lead into cellar 25.

Sub-cellar 26 is supported above the cellar floor on coiled springs and is located below the normal level of oil in cellar 25 so that oil distributing packing (not shown) supported on plate 27 will be partially immersed therein and lubricant carried thereby upwardly to the journal by capillary attraction.

Oil squeezed outwardly beyond the end of brass 36 serves to lubricate the box hub face, and shallow grooves 37 in the box face assist the flow of excess lubricant outwardly to the collector groove 21. The circulation of oil thereby effected substantially decreases the frequency with which the oil supply in the boxmust be renewed.

The form of box and cellar shown in Figures 3 and 4 is also adapted for the application of an individual pumping device and reservoir similar to that disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 403,027, mentioned above inwhich case oil circulation. would be maintained within each box. This last-mentioned application also shows but does not specifically claimico-operating collecting and deflecting rings for recapturing excess oil.

In Figure 5 is shown means for applying lubricant directly to the hub face of the journal box. The top of the box is provided with a downwardly inclined passage 38 opening into the hub face 39 above bearing 40. Oil passage .38 is arranged for connection with a conduit 41 leading from, an outside source of lubricant (not shown) and suitable means may be utilized for returning recaptured oil from draw-off pipe 44 to the supply tank. The deflector and collector rings 42 and 43 respectively, and other oil recapturing elements are the same as corresponding elements in Figures 1 and 2.

The principles of the present invention are not limited in application to locomotive driving boxes but may be advantageously applied to other railway journal boxes. Moreover, the means shown for supplying oil to the journal itself are not essential, nor is the type of journal box illustrated. The embodiments shown may be modified in these and other respects as to details without departing from the spirit of the invention and exclusive use of all such variations as come within the scope of the appended claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a railway vehicle wheel having opposing faces, means for supplying ing loss of said lubricant comprising a ring-like deflecting element on said wheel face, a cooperating ring-like collecting element on said box face, grooves in said box faceleading outwardly to said collecting element for assisting the flow of oil thereto, and an oil recovery passage leading from said box face adjacent the lower part of said collector element. i a

2. In combination, a railway vehicle wheel having a journal, and a journal box therefor, said wheel and box having opposing faces, a spacer in the lower part of saidbox, means for supplying oil to said faces, and means for preventing loss of said oil comprising a deflector ring on said wheel face and surrounding said journal, a cooperating ring-like collector elenient on said box, said spacer having an arcuate depression forming the lower portion of said collector element, and an oil recovery passage leading from said depressed portion of said spacer.

3. In combination, a vehicle wheel having a hub face and a journal, a journal box therefor with a face abutting said hub face, a spacer connecting the sides of said box beneath said journal, means for supplying lubricant to at least one of said faces, and means for preventing loss of said lubricant including 'a collector ring extending around the outer edge of said box face, part of said ring being on said spacer.

4. In combination, a locomotive driver with a center hub structure arranged for mounting an axle and a driving pin, a driving box, said hub structure and box having abutting radial faces, the hub face extending radially beyond the box space, means for supplying lubricant to saidfaces and means for preventing loss of said lubricant comprising a deflecting element projecting at an angle from said hub face and a circular groove-like depression in said box face and receiving said deflecting. element, and a recovery passage leading from said depression.

JAS. J. HENNESSY. 

